


Naïve

by unusual_cliche



Category: Sweeney Todd (2007)
Genre: Backstory, F/M, Friendship/Love, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 06:56:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11595282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unusual_cliche/pseuds/unusual_cliche
Summary: A look at missed opportunities."Nellie had never been naïve.""Only, one day, this practical logical girl found herself being everything but that.The day she met Benjamin Barker."





	Naïve

Nellie had never been naïve.

As a younger sister, one would expect her to be the one everyone took care of. It wasn’t the case. More often than not she would find herself taking care of her older - by two years - sister. She honestly didn’t mind getting rid of all of the “disgusting animals” that seemed so fond of Margaret’s bedroom, neither did she mind being the one to hear her and advise her when the sweet little thing got in trouble. No, she was very glad to be the reasonable one.

Only, one day, this practical logical girl found herself being everything but that.

The day she met Benjamin Barker.

At only fifteen, she’d never quite understood what it was that made Maggie so interested in that Jimmy whatever-his-name boy. When she laid eyes on that charming young man about to become their new tenant, though, she couldn’t help but feel a warm tingle all over her body. She knew the exact moment her pale skin became a shameful red, and helplessly tried to hide it. She didn’t succeed.

But by then, her role as the tough one was already printed permanently on her skin and her reaction to such silly feelings were pure rejection. Whenever Mr. Barker showed up at her family’s pie shop she’d look away. Once, when he had been stupid enough to try and talk to her, she’d answered in a very rude manner. Had Maggie or her parents seen her, she knew they’d be shocked, but really it was all involuntary. She simply lost it when he was around.

So, it shouldn’t have been a surprise to see him get engaged to the yellow haired - _naïve_ \- Lucy. Why wouldn’t he? He was a handsome man, there was no denying it, and all the young men from London seemed to think Lucy was one of the most attractive girls out there. Alongside her dear sister Margaret, that is.

But still, it was a surprise. More than the actual fact, what surprised her the most was the feeling of ownership she realized she’d always held for the soon to be barber. And due to that misplaced feeling of ownership, the news left her with a deep pang of jealousy and a bad taste in her mouth.

Strangely, after she stopped hurting so much, she found she could finally talk to the man as a proper lady. Well, maybe it wasn’t so strange, - she reflected one night, - maybe now that she knew he couldn’t look at her as a woman, she wouldn’t feel so disappointed when he didn’t. Because she was sure he wouldn’t have, even if she hadn’t been so ~~bloody~~ rude all of the time. She didn’t have Lucy’s bright yellow hair or Maggie’s elegant reddish waves. No, she had to have those untamable curls. No matter what she did, her almost orange colored hair kept looking messy as ‘ell. And she wasn’t fit as the two beauties; she was simply thin, too thin for a girl her age.

Ironically, they became friends. Or as friends as a woman and a married man were allowed to become, anyway. Maggie soon got a proposal from Mister Jimmy Jacobs (the name had to be learned since her sister became Mrs. Margaret Jacobs). And Nellie? She ended up marrying Albert Lovett, and the rest is history.

**Author's Note:**

> This was already published on fanfiction.net but I did myself the favour of loosing that password. Oh well...  
> This is just a drabble I wrote way back in 07, or maybe 08. But I'm cleaning up my pc, so there you have it.


End file.
